Mascaras are a major cosmetic product of significant importance to the cosmetic industry. They are used to enhance the beauty of a person's eyes by coating the eyelashes, and in some cases, the eyebrows, to primarily thicken, lengthen, color, curl, and define the individual lashes. There are a variety of mascara formulations including anhydrous formulations, water-in-oil emulsions, oil-in-water emulsions, and water-based mascaras, which may contain little or no oil phase. Oil-in-water emulsion mascara formulations typically contain emulsified waxes and polymers, with pigments dispersed into the water phase. The water may provide suitable application properties, while the waxes and polymers help provide transfer resistance to mascara film formed on the lash. Anhydrous and water-in-oil mascaras are sometimes referred to as waterproof mascaras, as they have superior transfer resistance, especially to water. Their high content of hydrophobic materials creates a film which contains very little materials that allow water to break up the film and make it wear away. In the case of the water-in-oil mascaras, the internal droplets of water can deliver water-soluble/dispersible materials that would otherwise not be able to be incorporated into an oily phase. The water-based mascaras are typically gelled water with a polymer to create deposition and hold of the lashes.
Consumers typically expect particular properties from their mascara products such as adhesion to the lashes, lengthening/curling of the lashes, lack of smudging or flaking, thick lashes, and good separation of clumps of lashes. Particularly, the desire is for long, luscious, full, soft, and separated lashes. Mascaras generally distribute a smooth and relatively thin (coating thickness) film over the eyelashes producing a satisfactory array of reasonably separated lashes that are darker and thicker than bare lashes, making the eyes more noticeably beautiful. While mascara may provide a variety of cosmetic benefits, at least some consumers find gloss, color and volume to be particularly important. In order to provide suitable gloss and color, the mascara should form a smooth, continuous film on the eyelash. A film that has a rough or discontinuous surface tends to scatter or fragment the light that reflects off of the eyelash, resulting in an undesirable dull or matte look. Typically, thinner films will usually form a smoother, more continuous surface than thicker films. This is due, at least in part, to the lack of large particles, which are commonly used to thicken a mascara composition.
In contrast, mascaras that form thick films on the eyelashes are typically perceived by consumers to increase the volume of the eyelashes (i.e., “volumizing” mascaras). That is, the user perceives an increase in the thickness of the eyelash along its length (although not necessarily uniformly). However, the presence of the large particles used to thicken these films (i.e., increase the viscosity) may form discontinuities in the surface of the film (e.g., cracks, hills, valleys and the like) that reduce the perceived gloss and color of the mascara. In addition, thicker mascaras are lead to increased clumping, which is the opposition of lash separation. Clumping occurs when adjacent eyelashes stick together and form clumps. Clumping is undesirable because it may give an observer the impression that the user has fewer lashes.
Over the course of a day, conventional mascaras typically wear off relatively quickly, especially when subjected to physical abrasion. Thus, reapplication throughout the day may be necessary. However, there may not be a convenient time or place for the user to reapply the mascara. As a result, these users may sacrifice the look they desire because they simply do not have the time or the desire or continually reapply mascara. In addition, even though conventional mascara typically wears off over the course of a day, a small amount may remain at the end of the day when the user goes to sleep. If this small amount of mascara remaining on the eyelashes at night is not removed, it may be undesirably transferred onto a sleeping surface (e.g., pillows, sheets, covers, bed clothes).
“Long Wear” mascaras are known, and may overcome some of the issues related to maintaining a “newly applied mascara” look throughout the day without the drawbacks of reapplication. But “long” is a relative term, and while existing long wear mascaras are intended to reduce or eliminate reapplication throughout the day, they are generally not suitable for multi-day wear. In some instances, the conventional long-wear mascara may not even provide a suitable look for 24 hours. Another problem sometimes associated with at least some conventional long-wear mascaras is the lack of volume they impart to the eyelashes.
Mascara compositions are generally applied to a keratinous surface using an applicator, sometimes referred to as a mascara brush or comb. When using a brush, the mascara is typically removed from a reservoir by placing the brush in the mascara reservoir and removing it. Excess mascara is removed from the brush with a wiper that contacts the distal ends of the bristles of the mascara brush as the brush is removed from the reservoir. The mascara that remains on the brush tends to be disposed around the core of the brush or flow toward the core. When the brush is contacted with the eyelashes of a user, the bristles separate the eyelashes such that the separated eyelashes can come into contact the core of the brush to receive the mascara disposed thereon.
There are generally two types of mascara brushes: molded plastic brushes and twisted-wire brushes. Plastic molded brushes are commonly formed from a thermoplastic material in an injection mold or similar process. Molded brushes typically have bristles arranged uniformly in rows with relatively wide spaces between the bristles. Mascaras having a relatively higher viscosity, such as some conventional volumizing mascaras, work well with a molded plastic brush for high levels of look control because the larger spaces between the bristles of the molded plastic brush are suitable for receiving the thicker composition (i.e., the composition flows more easily between the bristles). In contrast to a molded plastic brush, the bristles of a twisted-wire brush are generally spaced more closely together, and generally do not form well defined rows. This reduced space between bristles results in more resistance to flow for a higher viscosity mascara composition. Twisted-wire brushes are typically formed by placing a plurality of bristles between two parallel metal wires and then twisting the wires together in a helical or helix-like (e.g., coiled or spiral) configuration to trap and hold the bristles between the wires. It is not uncommon for the bristles of a twisted-wire brush to appear to be randomly distributed on the core.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a mascara product that lasts more than 24 hours and achieves the desired look of current mascaras and the consumer desired feel.